Star Fox: All Father
by Ray85
Summary: They knew he was coming, and they had so little time to prepare. Marcus returns with the Star Fox team to turn back a foe more deadly than they could possibly imagine. The Black Suns and Crimson Stars could not prepare them for what they were about to face, but it was time for their biggest challenge yet. The All Father is coming with his army, and it's up to Star Fox to stop him.
1. Prologue

_PLEASE READ.  
In order to avoid any in all copyright issues:  
__All Star Fox __characters are rightfully the property of their respective owners. I CLAIM ABSOLUTELY NO OWNERSHIP OF ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR VEHICLES OR PLANETS THAT ARE ALREADY THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I only claim ownership of any other original creations. _

_On one more note if you guys notice any errors such as grammatical or spelling, please leave a review. I want you guys to have the best possible experience with the story and I don't want your experience to be tainted with minor errors._

_Esteemed Star Fox fans; hello once more. As you have been waiting, the time has come to share the final installment of my trilogy. For those who are wondering about the first two stories, please search and read Star Fox: Crimson Star and Star Fox: Black Sun to catch up with the setting of this story. _

_Also, as a token of my esteem, I decided to reach out to a group of individuals who have had some very heavy influence in the writing of my stories. I want to personally thank:_

_**Bryan McCloud**__ – Thanks for all the reviews, your predictions and suggestions always help me improve the dynamics of my story_

_**Troygroomes**__ – For being the first person ever on FanFiction to review any of my stories._

_**ZombieAxeHero**__ – One of my sources of inspiration to start writing on FanFiction._

_**Kusa**__ – For bringing about the idea of adding key elements to All Father and for helping with a new faction._

_**Wing Ace **__– For your reviews on both Black Sun and Crimson Star. I really appreciate all the feedback you've given me._

_**K.S. Reynard**__ – Thank you for the tips on grammatical improvement and flow._

_**Xstar7/Lady Blue**__ – For your reviews of showing your excitement and anticipation of the events within my stories._

_**And to you, the reader, for taking the time out of your day to sit down and read my stories.**_

_Now about All Father, this story takes place one month after the events of Crimson Star. For those of you who have been actively following my work, you know what this means. Time is up, and the Children of Red (or C.O.R. for short) is coming through the gates. For those of you who are new, this prologue will give you a minor filler to help understand what has happened before in the past. But if you really want all of the details, I would encourage you to read Star Fox Crimson Star._

-Prologue-

~There is a saying: words are temporary, but deeds are eternal. People are remembered by their actions and their deeds, but sometimes their words are forgotten. Within the Lylat system, there were many deeds that were forever remembered by its people. But if there was one group of individuals who continued to write history with their deeds, it was the Star Fox team.

Their deeds are eternal, and have been recorded in history and in the memories of the people they protect. Even when the team had to evolve with the coming and passing of previous members, they continued to protect the people of Lylat. Their latest victory however, was not located in Lylat, but instead a new solar system known as the Philat System. There they hunted down and eliminated a deadly faction known as the Crimson Organization, an organization of master assassins and cunning espionage agents.

Their victory did not come without cost however. A member of the Star Fox team known as Axios gave his life to the cause of eliminating the Crimson leadership. Axios, who was recruited into the Star Fox team at the time of the Black Suns Conflict, became a close friend of the McCloud family and the rest of the team as well. But since he was close with the team; his death weighed heavy upon them. They vowed to never lose another member of Star Fox to the war, but with the Children of Red approaching Lylat; they will have to work to uphold their promise.

To the horror of the Star Fox team however, they learned that the leader of the Crimson Organization, the Crimson Star, had actually survived Axios's assault. The Crimson Star warned Axios, that if he had fallen, and his heart ceases to beat; a signal would be sent to the All Father to begin the annihilation of Lylat and Philat. A team of Cornerian scientists and doctors managed to preserve the Crimson Star's vitals, but shock and blood loss from Axios's assault had rendered the Crimson Star brain dead.

The Crimson Star's heart was kept alive with life support machines, but this would only last for one month. Throughout this month, General Peppy Hare of the Cornerian military had mobilized every single one of the Cornerian fleets to prepare for war. Every planet within the Lylat system had Cornerian colonies and major cities that needed protection, and so Peppy ordered all of his fleets to protect the colonies and major cities until each colony and major city could evacuate its inhabitants.

To divide their efforts accordingly, Star Fox had divided themselves into three teams: Blue, Red, and Gold. Blue team comprised of the McClouds and Sierra Spectra, Red team comprised of the Toads and Abigail Hare, and Gold team comprised of Falco Lombardi, Katt Monroe, Joey Todd, and Isaac Doran. The _Great Fox II_ remained with the bulk of the Cornerian military protecting Corneria, and so the Star Fox team lived aboard the flag ships of whatever Cornerian fleet they were with at the time.

While the Cornerian military continued its efforts to protect and evacuate the people of Lylat to Corneria, the Star Fox team provided security and over watch for the Cornerian fleets. However, the evacuations were proceeding slower than anticipated. To the horror of the Cornerian military and Star Fox, their time had run out. The C.O.R. came through the Lylat and Philat mega gates with numbers nearly double that of the Cornerian military. They swarmed all the outer words at once, and the war had begun.

There is one more saying: wars come and go, but our solders remain eternal.


	2. Macbeth: Day 4

_And so a new war begins, and the people of Lylat will be tested. Leave a review if you'd like, and as always; enjoy the chapter!_

Macbeth: Day 4

~There was a time when the people of Macbeth were able to enjoy their lives. The industrial planet had been providing ore and minerals for the construction and betterment of the Cornerian military since Andross's forces were eliminated. Its colonies thrived on the wealthy lives of the foundry workers as rare minerals came in massive abundances. Its people were able to go through their daily lives in the cities without fear or paranoia.

But it was not Zero Day where they were able to enjoy their luxury. It was not Zero Day where the people were able to traverse their streets. It was Zero Day where the people were crowded into evacuation space ports. It was Zero Day where the people were filled with fear and chaos filled the streets.

And for the first three days of the war, while its cities' defenses fought valiantly, Macbeth burned.

Within a major city known as New Onyx, a siege was currently underway. The C.O.R. had deployed two of their fleets to Macbeth with the intention of completely eliminating all Cornerian resistance and assets. New Onyx's skyscrapers and larger structures were burning, and some had already been completely destroyed and flattened.

The C.O.R. had few hundred fighters raining laser fire down upon the streets inflicting more damage and chaos. They had already taken the lives of thousands of civilians, and there were multiple drop ships ready to deploy ground troops to continue the slaughter. Within the air, the pilots of the fighters were looking down and marveling at their destruction. "This is Wing Two." One pilot said as he looked down at the flaming city. "We're moving in on the evacuation space ports now. Prepare for-"

The pilot was silenced as laser fire came from the distance and destroyed his fighter midflight. The pilot's two wingmen looked to the side and noticed a fleet of white colored ships and nearly another hundred fighters quickly approaching them from the distance.

Leading the assault however, were four fighters bearing white and blue colors with a red fox insignia on the sides of their fighters. "Whoever said they would come from the southern quadrant should be fired." Marcus angrily said as he approached New Onyx.

"Marcus stay focused." Fox interjected. "We're here now, so let's take care of these guys and get the civvies out of here."

"My god. There are a lot of ships out there." Sierra observed.

"Cornerian 7th Fleet, this is Krystal McCloud." Krystal said. "Move into your offensive lines and engage the C.O.R. directly."

The _Cloud Runner, Widow, Arwing II_¸ and Marcus's newly upgraded _Arwing III_ were leading a Cornerian fleet to intercept the C.O.R. in New Onyx. They were quickly speeding towards the evacuation space port with the intentions to aid the people in their evacuation. As they neared the city space port, Marcus noticed numerous hostile contacts quickly approaching them. "All right guys, this is it." Marcus said as he prepared himself. "Activate All-Range mode and give them hell."

The _Arwing III _and the _Arwing II_ both quickly veered to the side and they engaged a squad of C.O.R. fighters. Krystal and Sierra followed their example as the _Widow_ and the _Cloud Runner_ veered off to engage another group of fighters. But to add to their defense, the many fighters of the Cornerian fleet behind the Star Fox fighters swarmed the C.O.R. Soon the entire sky above New Onyx was littered with laser fire between the fighters of the Cornerian military and the C.O.R.

At the moment, Marcus and Fox were trailing a group of seven fighters. "Dad, I got a lock." Marcus said as he locked on to the lead fighter.

"Then take them down!" Fox quickly responded.

Marcus quickly charged his laser and fired at the lead fighter. The resulting charged explosion destroyed the entire group and Marcus and Fox split their formation to cover more ground. Fox found himself flying through the skyscrapers of New Onyx chasing down multiple C.O.R. fighter squads. "This is ridiculous." Fox said to himself as he opened fire upon a fighter squad. "Just hold still."

Fox continued to fire upon the fighters until he sent them all down to a crashing end. As he destroyed his targets, he received a call on his communicator. "Fox, it's Sierra." Sierra said. "I've located four evacuation transports at the space port and I need help covering their escape."

Fox looked to his side and noticed the _Widow_ and the _Cloud Runner_ flying circles around the space port shooting down fighters. He also noticed four docked emergency transports on the ground that was loading civilians. "I see them." Fox responded. "I'm coming in. Marcus, it's time for the objective."

Marcus had just shot down another pair of C.O.R. fighters within the streets of New Onyx. At the moment, he found himself flying dangerously low to street level chasing down another pair of fighters. "I got the transports on my radar!" Marcus said as he was chasing down his targets. "Just give me a second!"

"We don't have seconds Marcus!" Krystal hastily responded. "Get over to the transports and help with the evac!" Krystal was currently flying above the space port fending off any C.O.R. fighters that got too close to the transports. She was joined by another several dozen Cornerian fighters in providing aid in the evacuation.

While all the smaller fighters were enduring the chaos above the spaceport of New Onyx, the Cornerian fleet was still engaging the two C.O.R. fleet directly. The fleets were both high above the clouds keeping all of the larger ships away from the city below. At the moment, the C.O.R. destroyers were heavily bombarding the Cornerian fleet with their mini-_Shroud_ canons, and the Cornerian fleet had just suffered their first loss.

"I don't care what it takes!" Toran angrily yelled into his radio. "Divert group three's fire two the four two o'clock destroyers!" Commander Toran of the 2nd Excelsior fleet was chosen to aid Star Fox with the evacuation of Macbeth. At the moment, he was in the bridge of his flag ship, the _Intervention_, giving commands to his destroyers. "Destroyer groups four, target the eleven o'clock destroyer group and destroy them immediately!"

Upon giving his order, Toran watched through his bridge windshield as five destroyers to his left opened fire upon four destroyers in front of him. To his joy, he saw three C.O.R. destroyers explode immediately upon the barrage and the fourth become heavily damaged. "Excellent work groups four." Toran cheerfully said. "Helmsman, give me a status on the new shielding!"

"Sir!" replied a crewman standing in an operations pit below Toran. "The Radex Shields are holding steady at eighty percent!"

"Good. Destroyer groups two and five, divert a bombardment to the three cruisers to your twelve o'clock position and take down those targets!" Toran watched once more as his destroyers opened fire upon the C.O.R. targets that were marked. To his joy, he saw three more cruisers fall to the cannon barrage of the destroyers and he smiled. However, his joy was quickly turned to anger as the bridge of the _Intervention_ started to violently shake causing Toran to stumble to the side.

"Sir!" a crewman called out. "We lost two cruisers from destroyer groups three!"

"Sir!" another crewman called out. "Fires have been reported on the aft battery deck!"

"What is the status of the shielding?!" Toran quickly asked.

"Shields now at sixty three percent!"

"This is Commander Toran to Star Fox. We're taking a beating up here, what is the status of the civilian evacuation?!"

Beneath the massive fleet battle in the upper atmosphere, the Star Fox team and the mass number of Cornerian fighters were having difficulty holding back the massive amount of C.O.R. fighters. At the moment, Sierra and Fox were both trailing a group of eight C.O.R. fighters and they were trying to shoot them down. "The first transport has been fully loaded and is waiting for the all clear to take off!" Sierra reported as she was shooting down her targets.

"The other three are in their final stages of boarding!" Fox reported as he locked onto his targets. "We're doing all we can down here!" The _Arwing II_ and the _Widow _were being pushed to the physical limit to target and shoot down as many C.O.R. fighters as they could. However, Fox noticed that the number of friendly contacts on his radar was quickly diminishing. The C.O.R. was relentless against the Cornerian fighters and was shooting them down more quickly than the Cornerian fighters shooting down the C.O.R.

"We're taking heavy losses!" Marcus called out as he shot down another trio of C.O.R. fighters. "We need to get the civilians out of here now!"

"The skies are nowhere near close to being clear yet Marcus!" Krystal interjected. "We need to thin out the C.O.R. just a bit more!"

"This is Toran. Mrs. McCloud, we don't have much time left!" Toran said. "The Radex shielding has bought us time form the _Shroud_ fire, but our numbers are going to dwindle quickly! Our objective is the evacuation of the people of Macbeth, not the extermination of the C.O.R. first two fleets!"

"Toran, if those civilians take off now they will be ripped apart!"

"Then Mrs. McCloud, I suggest you provide a very close escort until the transports reach the jump point."

"Krystal!" Sierra called out as she was shooting down another pair of C.O.R. fighters. "It's literally now or never! The C.O.R. fighters just keep coming!" As the _Widow_ shot down its targets, Sierra piloted her fighter downward towards the space port to shoot down fighters that were harassing the transports directly. Seeing that the chaos of laser fire from the C.O.R. was not about to end, Marcus made a judgment call.

"This is Marcus McCloud of Star Fox to the New Onyx emergency transports." Marcus said as he locked onto a trio of C.O.R. fighters. "You orders are to take off now! We will provide you with close escort to the jump point back to Corneria. Take off now and get your tails moving!"

"Understood Star Fox!" a transport captain replied. "The is New Onyx One, we're taking off now. New Onyx Two, Three, and Four are taking off as well. Keep us covered Star Fox; we have several thousand people on board these things!"

Marcus looked down at the transports and noticed that they were significantly larger than he had previously observed. Each transport was nearly the size of a Cornerian capital ship and was equipped with nearly a dozen AA turrets on the exterior for defense, but the transport itself was not going to last long on its own. "All Cornerian fighter squads!" Fox called out as he was flying towards the transports. "You orders are to defend those transports with your lives! Let's get these people out of here!"

The Star Fox team and the multiple dozen remaining Cornerian fighters quickly flew into a close proximity with the evacuation transports. Soon the massive fighter battle had turned into a challenge of protecting precious cargo. The C.O.R. quickly swarmed the evacuation transports attempting to shoot them down, but the Star Fox team and the Cornerian fighters were holding their own to defend the transports.

Marcus and Sierra had managed to find each other amidst the chaos of the battle and the quickly formed up on each other's wing. They were trailing a group of five C.O.R. fighters and they both locked onto the lead fighter. "Let him have it!" Marcus called out. He and Sierra both released their triggers and they watched as the five C.O.R. fighters were destroyed midflight. However, their brief moment of joy was interrupted.

"This is New Onyx Three!" the captain cried. "We're taking a lot of fire from the C.O.R. fighters, we need help now!"

"This is Sierra of Star Fox, hold tight I'm coming!" Sierra said as she broke away from Marcus's wing. Marcus watched as he saw the _Widow_ leave to help the other transport and he was saddened by the sight. He quickly brushed the thoughts out of his head however as he was being pursued by two C.O.R. fighters.

"Oh crap!" Marcus exclaimed as he was being fired upon. Marcus found himself having difficulty dodging the micro-_Shroud _ laser canons. They did not have a single rate fire like conventional lasers; instead the C.O.R. was firing beams of energy that continued on until the pilot released the trigger. Marcus was trying his best to prevent his ship from being sliced apart but the incoming laser fire, but after a few moments his left wing was struck.

"Dammit!" Marcus angrily exclaimed. "Guys! I've got two on my tail and I can't shake them!" In response to his cry, Marcus noticed the _Arwing II_ quickly approaching him head on. Fox opened fire in Marcus's direction and Marcus noticed Fox's laser fire narrowly miss the _Arwing III_. However, he looked over his shoulder and noticed that Fox had shot down Marcus's pursuers.

"Stay focused Marcus!" Fox called out as the _Arwing II_ passed the _Arwing III_. "We got civilians to protect! Go and help the transports!" Fox veered the _Arwing II_ towards the New Onyx Three transport to help take the C.O.R. pressure off it. He quickly found a trio of fighters that were firing upon the transport and he locked onto the lead fighter. "No you don't!" Fox charged a laser round and quickly fired it at the lead fighter. The resulting explosion destroyed all three C.O.R. fighters and Fox veered away to find more targets.

At the same time, Sierra found herself trailing a squad of four C.O.R. fighters. She locked onto the lead fighter and charged her laser round. "This is for you!" she called out as she released her triggers. Sierra watched as she destroyed her four targets, but her moment of joy was quickly tarnished as four C.O.R. fighters were pursuing her. She tried to bank left and right but was unable to lose her pursuers. "I need a hand here!"

"Hang tight!" Marcus called out as he shot down another C.O.R. fighter. "I'm coming!" Marcus quickly sped towards the _Widow_ and noticed Sierra's four pursers. He locked onto the lead fighter and charged his laser round. "Keep away from her!" Marcus fired his charged laser round and successfully destroyed all four C.O.R. fighters that were pursuing Sierra. However, he noticed the New Onyx Three transport was being heavily harassed by the C.O.R. and saw that two of its four AA canons had been destroyed.

"This is New Onyx Three!" the captain cried. "We've lost five of our turrets and are still taking fire! Where is our air support?!" Marcus sped towards the transport and quickly locked onto another group of C.O.R. fighters. However, his lock on was broken as a pair of C.O.R. fighters were firing upon Marcus from above.

"They're all over the damn place!" Marcus angrily called out as he veered away from danger. "I've still got at least a hundred C.O.R. fighters in the area and they keep coming!"

"Toran! Is there anyway how you can provide support?" Krystal asked as she was trailing a group of C.O.R. fighters."

"We're currently in the middle of a fleet battle!" Toran angrily responded. "I'm taking enough fire as it is!" immediately following his words, the _Intervention_ was struck with a round from a mini-_Shroud _ canon from a C.O.R. destroyer. The resulting impact explosion staggered every crew member within the bridge and shook the ships entire hull. Toran managed to catch himself on a rail before he would fall to the ground. As he pulled himself back up, he noticed several terminals within the bridge had been damaged and were bursting with sparks.

"Damage report!" Toran demanded.

"Radex shields are at thirty two percent!" a crewman responded. "Aft weapons are off line!"

"Sir!" another crewman called out. "We have multiple fires on port weapon decks three, five, and seven! We can't take another hit like that or we'll lose the entire port quadrant!"

"Star Fox! Get those transports to the damn jump point!" Toran angrily called out. "I cannot withstand another direct barrage from a C.O.R. destroyer!"

Following his command, the Star Fox team pushed their fighters to their physical limit to shoot down all C.O.R. fighters in sight. After several minutes of escorting, the four New Onyx transports were breaching the final cloud layer into the atmosphere. "This is New Onyx Two." The Captain said. "We're three minutes from the jump point, just keep them off us a little bit longer!"

"Double time it people!" Marcus called out as he shot down another pair of C.O.R. fighters. "Protect those transports!" Marcus looked into the sky around him and noticed multiple Cornerian fighters were being shot out of the sky by the C.O.R. The enemy clearly had more numbers on their side and Marcus knew they were not going to last much longer. Doubt quickly start to set into his mind as the number of friendly contacts on his radar continued to quickly decrease. "My god this is insane. We won't be able to hold out at this rate."

"If I hear you think that again…" Krystal angrily telepathically said to Marcus. "I'll rip your mind apart and put it back together very painfully." Marcus looked to the side and noticed the _Cloud Runner_ fly right by him. He was always nervous when ever Krystal issued a psychic threat of discipline since she always gave them in a very dark tone. "No McCloud I ever heard of gave up in the middle of the mission, and I'm not about to see one give up now! Especially my son!"

Krystal's words quickly made Marcus snap back into attention and he regained his confidence to hold out the C.O.R. The four transports of the New Onyx evacuation were reaching the jump point towards Corneria as they breached the atmosphere and were in space. The Star Fox team and remaining Cornerian fighters were doing what they could to fend off the remaining C.O.R. fighters, but catastrophe struck them. "This is New Onyx Three!" the Captain cried. "The C.O.R. have taken out our hyper drive engines! We can't jump and we've lost our last defensive turret!"

"New Onyx One, Two, and Four; jump now!" Marcus called out as he was shooting down another pair of fighters. "You're out of time! Jump now!" Following his commands, the Star Fox team saw the three massive transports activate their hyper drives. After a brief moment, they shot out into space and left Macbeth. However, the Star Fox team watched in horror as New Onyx Three was swarmed with C.O.R. fighters.

"We have fires in decks two through seven!" the captain cried. "We've lost our last turret! We're completely defenseless!"

"We're coming!" Marcus responded. "All Cornerian fighters, we need to-"

"The is Commander Toran to all Cornerian personnel, your orders are to return to Corneria at once!" Toran interrupted. "Activate your hyper drives and return to Corneria immediately!"

"Toran you son of a bitch!" Marcus angrily lashed out. "What about the transport!"

"Their hyper drive has been destroyed and they have no more means of defense. I'm not about to risk my fleet for the sake of one dying transport! We've taken enough losses as it is!"

"Marcus!" Fox called out as he was being fired upon. "Listen to me son, we have to retreat. We don't have enough man power to defend the transport! This is war Marcus, and casualties and catastrophes are inevitable."

"I won't leave them!" Marcus angrily responded. "I'll defend them myself if I have to!"

"Marcus!" Sierra called out. "You'll be killed! We all will! We can't hold out any longer!"

"Marcus, sweet heart." Krystal softly said as she fired upon a pair of C.O.R. fighters. "Please, we need to retreat. We'll avenge those lives when we win this war, but we can't do this now." Marcus felt completely against the odds as everyone was telling him to retreat. He noticed the remaining Cornerian fighters turning away from the transport and returning to the 2nd Excelsior fleet. He also noticed a first wave of 2nd Excelsior ships fleeing the system already.

Reluctantly, Marcus and the Star Fox team turned away from the remaining transport to their own jump point. However, Marcus was still on line with the captain of New Onyx Three. "Our shields are down!" the captain cried. "They're all around us! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! PLEASE HELP US!" Marcus slammed his fist on his radio to silence the captain and a tear came down his cheek and his anger quickly set in as he knew he failed to defend the transport. Marcus turned his head and watched as the massive transport was set ablaze, and after a few moments the entire ship started to explode.

Marcus regrouped with his team and they watched as the 2nd Excelsior fleet turned away from the C.O.R. to jump into hyper space. The Star Fox team quickly activated their hyper drives and entered hyperspace as well leaving the chaos around Macbeth. As the group was within the blue hue of hyperspace, Marcus slammed his fist on his console in his frustration. "WHY DID WE LEAVE THEM?!" he angrily lashed out. "We could have saved them!"

"There was nothing we could have done…" Krystal softly said as she relaxed herself. "They were doomed when their hyper drive was destroyed."

"We tried Marcus." Fox softly responded. "We did what we could."

"I'm sorry Marcus." Sierra said as guilt overtook her. "I wish there was another way."

"Marcus, the fact of the matter is you're too young to truly understand the violence that is war."

"Don't give me that crap…" Marcus angrily responded. "You were around my age when you went through the Lylat wars. Only two years older in fact; I read the data files."

"Then you should know that I went into that war with the wrong reasons." Marcus was silenced as Fox's words quickly sank into his thoughts. "I went into that war with the intent on revenge rather than bringing Andross to justice." Fox continued. "When I got the news of James's death, revenge was all I cared about. Then the violence of war showed me something different. With every planet my team and I liberated, I learned that there was more to the Lylat War then just my personal agenda. I learned that an entire system's worth of people were affected by Andross and his forces. It wasn't just my revenge that was at stake, but also the revenge of everyone else that had beef with Andross. At that point, I learned that Andross needed to be brought to justice, and that my vengeance towards him would have been satisfied with him being stopped. You can't fight a war with your own reasons being ahead of everyone else's. Instead, you need to fight the war with the intention to protect those you care about."

The group was silenced as Fox finished his mild lecture. Marcus took a moment to think about his father's words and he took a deep breath. He loosened his fist and relax his palm upon his console, and he leaned back into his seat to relax himself. Now knowing the point that Fox was trying to convey, Marcus lowered his head. "Sorry dad." Marcus responded. "You're right, I need to look at the bigger picture…"

"Don't be too harsh on yourself Marcus." Krystal interjected. "We will put a stop to the All Father and the C.O.R. We will avenge all the people we couldn't save by stopping the All Father."

"And once we do that, then we'll be praised as heroes." Sierra added. "Think about it, Marcus McCloud and Star Fox: Heroes of the Ages. I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?"

The group chuckled at Sierra's words and their moods were lifted from their shaken state. "I think it does too." Marcus responded. "In that case, let's win this war so we can hear that once before the end."

After a few minutes within hyperspace, the 2nd Excelsior fleet and the Star Fox team exited hyperspace and arrived at Corneria. "There she is." Marcus softly said. "Considering how the war is going so far, it's good to see Corneria untouched."

"Well with all of this protection we're putting in…" Fox said as he saw the many fleets of the cornerian military patrol Corneria. "I doubt the C.O.R. would just walk in without expecting heavy losses."

Within moments however, the team noticed a new wave of contacts emerging from hyperspace from the far side of the planet. "This is Star Fox Gold team coming in with the 1st Bulldog fleet." A voice announced. "We've salvaged what we can from the Sector Z combat zone, but we were ambushed by the C.O.R. and sustained some losses."

Immediately recognizing the voice, Marcus was overjoyed to hear it. "Falco!" Marcus called out. "It's good to hear from you!"

"Kid?!" Falco responded as he heard Marcus's voice. "Ha ha! You guys made it! I knew it!"

"Sure you did." Katt added. "On the way over you were scared to death about Blue team."

"Hey come on Katt, give the guy a break." Joey interjected. "We were all nervous."

"You were even nervous yourself!" Isaac added.

Marcus looked into his radar and noticed the _Skyclaw, Cat's Paw II, Nightshade, _and the _Havok_ quickly approaching their position. After a few minutes of the two teams flying towards each other, both teams eventually flew right by each other and veered to the side to regroup. The eight fighters of Star Fox were keeping to the Cornerian orbit until they were told otherwise, but for now they had some down time. "You guys have no idea how happy we are to see you." Krystal said as the group was flying in unison.

"We could say the same." Falco responded.

"How did your mission go?" Marcus asked.

"You mean salvaging tech?" Joey asked. "Our salvage went fine. We found what we were looking for but we were ambushed by two C.O.R. fleets right after we found it. I'd say my drones surely helped in saving our asses."

"Too bad they were all shot down eventually." Isaac added.

"Poor things." Sierra said.

"What tech were you looking for exactly?" Fox asked.

"We were looking for a pulse resonator for the _Purifier_." Katt responded. "It regulates the resonation frequency that the _Purifier_ will be firing to keep it stable. The problem was that the pulse resonator itself was big, and…" Katt was silenced as she saw the ships of the 1st Bulldog fleet in their heavily damaged condition. "And we took some losses trying to retrieve it."

The group was interrupted as they noticed another wave of contacts come from hyperspace. They looked to their side and realized that another fleet was about to emerge from hyperspace at the team's current position. "Scatter!" Marcus called out.

Following his command, the team quickly broke their formation as a new Cornerian fleet emerged from hyperspace right at their current position. To break their mild moment so tension however, they heard another friendly voice. "Geez…" Fred said as he slouched in his seat. "Oh man it's good to be home."

"I'll second that one." Slippy added. "I'll start being more and more nervous the longer I'm away from Corneria."

"Oh you two are home sick every time you leave Corneria." Amanda said with a condescending tone. "Always wanting to go home."

"I get home sick too some times." Abigail interjected. "It's not every day I'm caught in a system wide war with a very little chance of returning home."

Marcus looked on his radar and saw the _Dart Frog, Sky Bunny II, Bullfrog_, and the _Tadpole_ appear from their hyperspace jump. "It's good to see you Red team!" Marcus happily called out.

"Marcus?" Fred asked. "Ha, it's good to see you guys too!"

"Well well…" Falco said. "the toad made it back to the pond."

"Hey I'm not all that clumsy Falco!" Slippy retorted. "Besides, you'd miss me if I was gone!"

"The sad thing is you're probably right."

The team chuckled at Falco's comment. Soon, Red team was reunited with Gold and Blue team and the entire Star Fox squadron were flying in unison over Corneria. "How did your mission go?" Marcus asked Red team.

"Our mission was to provide an escort to evacuate a major city in Zoness." Fred responded. "We did what we could to evacuate some thousand citizens, but we couldn't save them all."

"We had a similar task with the people in Macbeth." Fox added. "The C.O.R. are pretty relentless. Our fleet took a beating."

"Same here." Slippy added as he observed his damaged fleet. "We did as much as we could but our fleet was taking too much damage. We had to bail with the civilians that were ready to go."

"Regardless of our losses." Marcus said. "We're all here together. I'd say that's a success in itself."

"Amen to that one." Falco responded.

While war had engulfed Lylat, the team found peace within each other's company. They were beyond happy to see each other since they knew that any mission could be their last. To break their moment of peace however, they received a call. "This is General Hare to Star Fox." Peppy called out from the capital. "It seems like you kids made it home in one piece."

"C'mon Pep, we're Star Fox." Falco responded. "We don't go down easy."

"Well that's good, because I have another assignment that will require Blue, Red, and Gold team." His words silenced the Star Fox team and they were stunned to know they were all going on a mission together.

"All of us?" Marcus asked. "What could require all of us?"

"Star Fox, have you noticed I'm contacting you on a secured, private line?" Peppy asked. The team looked at their communicators and realized that Peppy indeed called them on a private line.

"Peppy, what's going on…?" Fox cautiously asked.

"Team, after the fall of the Crimson Organization, I made a very difficult decision without telling you."

"What decision…?" Marcus asked as a serious tone over took him.

"I want to tell you more, but I feel that my word alone won't be enough to convince you."

"Peppy, you've trusted us and we'll always trust you." Fox responded. "Just tell us, and we'll check it out."

"I want you to go to Meteo; to a research facility owned by an organization known as TriGenics. Once there, I want you to find and extract an item known as Subject Zero. It will give you all the answers you need."

"Peppy, I don't like the tone of your voice." Krystal said in a suspicious tone. "There's something you're not telling us." The team was on edge as Peppy responded with silence. They've never experienced this behavior with Peppy before and they were on edge.

"Kids…" Peppy softly said. "I would never send you to do something like this if it weren't to the up most importance. I need you to trust me. You'll likely encounter C.O.R. fighters within the area, but their numbers should be relatively low. Once you're in the facility, there will likely be C.O.R. personnel inside trying to find and destroy Subject Zero. I need you to extract him quickly."

"Wait a minute, last time you said 'it'. Subject Zero isn't an item." Marcus interjected. "Subject Zero is a person isn't it?"

"He is one of the two key people we need to end this war."

"And who is the second?" Fox asked.

"The second we'll talk about after you retrieve Subject Zero. Once you find him, I'll send the _Great Fox II_ to extract you and your team." The Star Fox team was silent as they were all on edge from Peppy's new assignment. "I need you to do this kids. It will all make sense once you find Subject Zero."

"Ok Peppy." Marcus responded. "We'll do this, but if something goes wrong then you'll have to deal with the consequences yourself."

"I'm fully prepared to do that."

The Star Fox team regrouped and they all flew away from Corneria. After a few moments, the team activated their hyper drives and they jumped towards Meteo. Within the blue hue of Hyperspace, they were all nervous as Peppy never sent them on a mission without full knowledge of what they were searching for. "This is very sketch." Falco commented. "Sending us into Meteo without telling us the full story on why we're going there."

"And who exactly is Subject Zero?" Slippy asked.

"I'm not sure." Marcus responded. "But we're about to find out."


	3. Meteo: Day 5

_On the way to Meteo, let the next mission begin. Leave a review if you'd like, and as always; enjoy the chapter!_

Meteo: Day 5

~Due to Meteo's closer proximity to Corneria compared to the other planets of the Lylat system, the C.O.R. have not made a significant presence there. It's fleets were concentrated to the outer most systems of Lylat leaving the systems closer to Corneria relatively untouched. While their presence is not significant however, the C.O.R. have dispatched portions of their fleets to scout and survey the area for possible routes to Corneria.

The Star Fox team came out of their hyperspace jumps at the edge of Meteo. As they looked upon the many asteroids, they took a moment to adjust themselves for the upcoming mission. "Ok, here we are." Marcus said as the _Arwing III_ came out of hyperspace. "The coordinates Peppy gave us puts the facility about half way into the asteroid belt."

"Then let's not waste any time." Fox responded. "Let's move in, and watch the asteroids."

Following his words, team entered the asteroid belt. They found themselves navigating the asteroids with relative ease as they maneuvered towards their first way point. "I never understand why the military has facilities here in Meteo." Krystal commented as she was maneuvering through the asteroids.

"Well this facility isn't owned by the military." Fred interjected. "This place is owned by a Cornerian R&D company known as TriGenics."

"And who are these guys exactly?" Falco asked.

"They specialize in medical recovery and rehabilitation."

"So just another group of doctors."

"There's got to be more to it than that Falco." Marcus interjected. "There's got to be a reason why Peppy sent us out here, and I'm sure this reason has something to do with TriGenics trying something outside of their usual practices."

"Let's just get to the facility and find out what the deal is." Sierra said.

After flying for a period of time, and maneuvering through the asteroid belt; the Star Fox team found themselves within radar range of the facility. "I've got the facility on scanners." Slippy said as he noticed a new contact appear on his radar. "I'll bring it up now."

The team noticed a 3D rendering of the facility appear on their HUD's. The facility was actually built within a super asteroid within the belt. It was a relatively large facility, and it appeared to have several levels that went inside the asteroid. "This place is massive." Marcus said as he studied the facility. "And Peppy wants us to fine a person in this?"

"Hey if we're lucky, maybe the person will find us instead." Isaac called out.

"If the person finds us, we'll be lucky that they're not hostile." Krystal quickly commented. "We need to be prepared for the worst."

"Then you better prepare fast!" Katt interjected as she noticed hostile contacts appear on her radar. "We've got C.O.R. fighters coming!" The team quickly looked at their radar and noticed several dozen C.O.R. fighters approaching them from afar. They looked on their HUD and they realized that a C.O.R. cruiser was on the other side of the asteroid belt. The Star Fox team quickly prepared themselves for the skirmish at hand, and they scattered from their formation.

"Let's make this quick!" Marcus called out. "Engage!"

Following his command, the Star Fox team sped towards the C.O.R. and quickly opened fire. The C.O.R. responded by doing the same upon the Star Fox team, but a group of fighters were already destroyed due to Star Fox firing upon them first. As the two groups traded laser fire, the asteroids of Meteo made their battle significantly more dangerous. Star Fox found themselves to be having difficulty shooting down C.O.R. fighters and evading the asteroids at the same time.

"This is nuts!" Abigail called out as she was firing upon a group of C.O.R. fighters. "How do you manage to-"

"Abbie pull up!" Fred called out. Abigail looked to her side and noticed an asteroid quickly approaching her fighter. She broke off her assault on her targets and lifted the _Sky Bunny II_ just over the asteroid before she would have been struck.

"That was way too close." Abigail said to herself. After her brief moment of relief, Abigail noticed the _Nightshade_ and _Havok_ chasing after a trio of C.O.R. fighters right before her. She quickly shook the shock from her and sped after Isaac and joined him and pursing his targets. As the _Sky Bunny II, Havok,_ and the _Nightshade_ formed up to shoot down more fighters, the _Arwing III_ and the _Cloud Runner_ joined together to shoot down another group of C.O.R. fighters.

Marcus and Krystal both locked onto the lead fighter of a group of five and quickly charged their lasers. "Do it now Marcus!" Krystal called out. Marcus and Krystal both released their charged rounds but watched as their lasers struck an asteroid before it would impact the C.O.R. fighter.

"Crap!" Marcus exclaimed as he saw the failed attempt. "Let's do it again!" Marcus and Krystal both maneuvered around a clump of asteroids and found their targets once more. As they both locked onto their targets again, they charged their laser rounds once more. "Now mom!"

Marcus and Krystal both released their laser rounds and watched as the two charged rounds impacted the lead fighter. The resulting explosion destroyed all the fighters mid flight and Krystal and Marcus both broke off to engage other C.O.R. fighters.

While the mother and son pair continued to engage the enemy, Fox and Sierra found themselves within the battle and the quickly formed up on each other's wing. They both were pursuing a group of C.O.R. fighters through the asteroids and they locked onto their targets. "I got the guy in the back." Fox said as he locked on.

"I have the front." Sierra responded. "Let's do it." Sierra and Fox opened fire and they successfully shot down their targets. However, the two of them were quickly fired upon by two more squads of C.O.R. fighters. Fox and Sierra both veered off into different directions but the C.O.R. fighters were hot on their trails.

Using the asteroids to shield her form C.O.R. laser fire, Sierra effortlessly maneuvered through the asteroids. She looked over her shoulder and she noticed that a C.O.R. fighter collided with an asteroid and was destroyed. "Do you even know how to fly?" Sierra asked the pilot. Using the same tactics, Sierra continued to fly closer to the asteroids to evade the C.O.R. fighters. After a brief minute of dangerous flying, Sierra noticed all of her pursuers had been destroyed by the asteroids around her.

"I really have to say…" Sierra said as she locked onto a C.O.R. fighter. "These guys don't have much for flying skills."

"I've noticed." Falco responded as he shot down a C.O.R. fighters. "I've seen more of these guys get destroyed by asteroids rather than our lasers." Falco looked to his side and noticed another C.O.R. fighter collide with an asteroid. "Amateurs."

"Keep your head on a swivel." Marcus called out as he was being pursued by C.O.R. fighters. "I've got the facility coming up on short range scanners." Marcus continued to maneuver through the asteroids to lose his pursuers. After a brief moment of flying however, he located the TriGenics facility. "I've got the facility in sight!"

"Yea and you've got bogeys on your tail!" Fred called out. "Hold tight, I'm coming!" Fred sped after the _Arwing III_ and quickly locked onto Marcus's pursuers. He opened fire and succeeded in destroying all but one C.O.R. fighter. Before he could finish his last target, Fred had banked to the side to avoid collision with an asteroid. "Crap! Marcus you still got one on your tail!"

"I see him, don't worry about it. He's mine." Marcus responded. Marcus continued to perform multiple aerial maneuvers to avoid being shot down by the C.O.R. fighter. He eventually found himself within an open area within the asteroid field and he grinned. "Let's try this." Marcus pulled back on his flight stick and he brought the _Arwing III_ into a summersault. The C.O.R. fighter continued to fly forward and Marcus brought his fighter behind it. As he locked on however, Marcus noticed that the fighter was destroyed before he could fire.

"Nice move kid." Fox cheerfully said as he shot down Marcus's target. "Reminds me of the good old days."

"Sure, but you stole my kill." Marcus angrily responded.

After several more minutes of flying in the air, the Star Fox fighters eventually eliminated the first wave of C.O.R. fighters. However, they noticed the remaining fighters flee to the far side of the asteroid belt and towards their cruiser. "Hey where are they going?" Falco asked. "I was just getting started!"

"They probably have something in mind for us." Katt commented as she formed up on Falco's wing. "I don't think we should stay here for long."

"I conquer with the cat." Isaac said. "We should get a move on."

The three teams of Star Fox regrouped in their formations and proceeded towards the docking platform of the TriGenics facility. As they neared the structure, the noticed that their G-diffusers were starting to fluctuate. "Hey what gives?" Falco said as he struggled to maintain control of the _Skyclaw_. "My ship is moving on its own here!"

"Mine too." Marcus said as he released his hands from his flight controls.

"Don't worry guys!" Fred called out as the _Dart Frog_ was being lowered through a large field. "It's an automatic tractor beam that going to dock our ships with their landing platforms. We're entering an artificial gravity field that's going to hold us onto the asteroid. Also, there are pressure generators and oxygen generators feeding breathable air into the field."

"Fair enough." As the fighters descended onto the facility's docking platform, Marcus studied the structure. He noticed that the facility was divided into a east, west, and north wing. The docking platform and hangars were located in the south wing of the facility, and Marcus also learned that the facility was roughly a few stories tall.

"We've got a lot of ground to cover." Marcus said as he finished studying the facility's layout. "We'll split up into our teams to cover more ground."

"How do we know if we find Subject Zero?" Abigail asked.

Shortly after her question, the twelve fighters of Star Fox touched down onto the docking platform. "Plug into a terminal to find his location." Marcus said as he climbed out of his cockpit. "And hope Subject Zero is not hostile."

The rest of the Star Fox team climbed out of their fighters and armed themselves with the weapons they brought with them. Krystal additionally carried her staff on her back while she had her rifle in her hands and her blaster in her holster. As they were ready, the Star Fox team proceeded into the facility entrance.

Upon entering the facility, the group first noticed multiple docked C.O.R. drop ships on another docking platform. "Looks like we'll have some company." Marcus said as the team proceeded through the facility entrance. "Let's see if the guys are any good on the ground."

"We'll fight through them no problem." Falco confidently responded.

"Glad to see you're not lacking in confidence." Katt remarked. After walking through the entrance for another brief minute, the team found themselves at a junction that separated the facility into the three wings.

"This is where we split up." Marcus said as he loaded a clip into his rifle. "Stay in radio contact, and call out if you see anything."

"Sounds good kid." Falco acknowledged.

"Roger." Fred responded.

Following his words, the Star Fox team divided themselves into their three squads. Falco and Gold team proceeded into the western wing of the facility. Fred and Red team proceeded into the eastern wing, and Marcus and Blue team proceeded into the northern wing.

Upon separating into their teams, the Star Fox group quickened their pace in a effort to find Subject Zero before the C.O.R. did. At the moment, Falco and Gold team were navigating the halls of the facility with relative ease. They hadn't encountered any C.O.R. soldiers and were surprised. "I don't like this." Isaac said as the group cautiously moved through the halls. "Where is everyone?"

"There's no C.O.R. or TriGenics personnel anywhere." Joey added. "It's like this place has been abandoned."

"I'm really starting to question why Peppy would send us out here." Katt said. "He didn't give us any information about this place."

"Look…" Falco interjected. "He wouldn't send us here if he didn't have a good reason. Now quit with your pouting and let's find this guy." Following his words, Gold team eventually arrived at a large set of reinforced double doors. "I bet they got something important on the other side of this."

"Let's find out what it is then." Isaac said as he approached the door. Isaac dropped onto one knee and pulled out an explosive charge from his side. He planted it onto the door and pressed a few buttons to arm it. "Get clear!" Gold team quickly stepped back from the door and the explosive charge detonated. However, the explosion only opened the door a few feet and damaged the slide frames.

"Let's pull it open." Joey suggested. Joey and Isaac both grabbed the edge of one door frame and Falco and Katt grabbed the other. The four of them pulled the doors apart and were successful in opening the doors wide enough to enter the room. Gold team found themselves within a brightly lit prosthetics laboratory. There was a stair case that went to a lower level of the lab and the two floors were surrounded with terminals.

"Looks like we've got some reading to do." Katt said as she observed the room.

"Fine." Falco responded. "Take a quick peek into those terminals. We got five minutes, then we're going to continue through those doors on the other side." Following his command, Katt, Joey, and Isaac scattered themselves throughout the lab and started going through the research terminals. "Gold here." Falco said into his communicator. "We've found a lab with terminals, but no sign of Zero just yet."

On the eastern wing of the facility, Red team found themselves within a large cargo hold filled with various medical supplies and weapons. "Copy that Falco." Slippy responded as he surveyed the cargo room. "Right now Red team is in a cargo room. We've found a huge stock pile of medical supplies, and another stockpile of weapons and ammo."

"Did you run into any trouble?" Falco asked over the radio.

"Nope, nothing." Fred replied as he was looking into a crate of medical supplies. "No C.O.R. or TriGenics workers. You?"

"Same deal. I don't like this, this could be a trap."

"In all seriousness Falco…" Abigail interrupted. "It most likely is." Abigail slowly walked through a hall that connected with the cargo room. She ventured away from the Toads for a brief moment as she continued to explore the facility. Eventually, she found herself at a set of reinforced double doors and stopped in her tracks. "Freddy!" she called out. "I need your help here!"

Hearing her words, Fred and his parents quickly rushed to Abigail and they noticed the large double doors as well. "I see." Freed said. "Nothing a blast charge can't solve!" Fred reached behind his back and pulled out a breach charge. He approached the double doors and placed it on the gap between the two doors. However, as he armed the charge he heard noises on the other side of the doors. "Hey wait a minute, I hear something."

Slippy, Amanda, and Abigail slowly approached the door with their weapons at the ready. They gently placed their heads next to the doors to get a better idea on what was happening. They were able to hear voices on the other side of the door, and they became concerned. "Are they friendly?" Abigail asked.

"I can't say." Slippy responded. "Only one way to find out really." Slippy tapped Fred on the shoulder and Fred quickly armed the breach charge. Red team quickly stepped away from the door and aimed their weapons. They prepared themselves for the worst, and they watched as the charge detonated. The resulting explosion knocked the doors of their frames and left a cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared, Red team was able to see inside. The team noticed that the room was another two level laboratory with many mechanical limbs built into the walls and ceiling.

However, Red team looked upon a small group of people dressed in white lab coats with the TriGenics logo stitched into the sleeves. As they pointed their weapons, the people inside quickly held their hands in the air. "Don't shoot!" a scientist called out. "We're unarmed! We're just scientists!"

Red team lowered their weapons and quickly entered the room. While Abigail walked towards the scientists to evaluate their condition, the Toads spread themselves out to check the rest of the lab. "You guys are with TriGenics." Abigail observed. "Who are you guys exactly?"

"We're just a research team." A scientist fearfully responded.

"What happened here?" Slippy asked as he approached the scientists.

"We were working on the final touches on one of our projects." Another scientist responded. "Then the facility's alarm started to sound off. Soon we heard gunfire and people screaming, and watched as our own security detail was over whelmed."

"We saw some men dressed in black and red robes killing all the scientists." Another scientist added. "We just ran from our labs and ended up here."

Fred walked back towards the lab entrance and quickly surveyed the hall for any signs of trouble. "Marcus, it's Freddy." Fred said into his communicator. "We've found a group of scientists that were hiding from the C.O.R. soldiers."

"Copy that." Marcus responded. "Right now we're inside an office here in the north wing. Find out if they know where we can find Subject Zero."

"Got it." Fred turned away from the entrance and approached the scientists. "We came here looking for a person named Subject Zero." Fred said to the scientists. "Can you help us out with that?"

The scientists looked amongst themselves and started to whisper. Red team was confused at first and they were wondering what the scientists were saying. "Hey, did you guys hear me?" Fred asked.

"You're looking for Subject Zero?" a scientist asked. "You're not the rescue team?"

"Well that comes too." Amanda added. "But that objective was secondary. Our primary objective was to locate and retrieve a person known as Subject Zero. We need your help to find him."

"Subject Zero is currently under stasis within a liquid stasis tank inside the Isolation Cube." A scientist said as he stepped forward. "The Isolation Cube is located below this facility, about fifteen stories into the asteroid. It is reinforced with a security checkpoint upon entry."

"Guys, did you get all that?" Slippy asked in his communicator.

"I sure did." Falco responded.

"Ditto." Fox responded. "Ask him what's the fastest way there."

Slippy walked up next to Fred and looked at the scientists. "What's the fastest way to get to the Isolation Cube?" he asked them.

"There's only one elevator that goes down to the Isolation Cube." A scientist responded. "It's located in a secondary junction that connects the north, west, and east wings. There are some signs around the facility that will lead you to it."

"Thanks for the information." Amanda replied. "I think it's best you guys stay here until we return."

"Take that door." A scientist said to them as he pointed to the side. "It'll connect you to the hall with the elevator entrance. There might be more gunmen down that hall though, so be careful."

"Roger that." Fred responded. "Let's get going guys." Following his words, Red team took the secondary exit out of the lab and they proceeded through a hall towards the elevator. Using the information that was given to them, Blue and Gold team were also moving towards the elevator. After a matter of a few minutes, the three teams found themselves regrouping with each other at the elevator.

"Good to see you guys." Marcus said to the rest of his team.

"Likewise." Abigail responded.

"Piece of cake." Falco responded.

"This should be the elevator that brings us down to the Isolation Cube." Fox said. "Let's lock and load, it's likely the C.O.R. are already down there." The team checked their weapons and readied themselves for a fight. Marcus then approached a console next to a large set of double doors. He pressed a button to call the large elevator back up to their level and watched as a monitor gave them the elevator's position. However, they also noticed the monitor switch views to the inside of the elevator and they saw a squad of C.O.R. soldiers inside.

"Oh crap!" Fred exclaimed. "We got bad guys coming up!"

"When those doors open, let them have it." Marcus quickly said. "Get ready." After a few moments, the elevator doors opened and the team saw the C.O.R. soldiers inside. Without a moment of hesitation, the Star Fox team unleashed a barrage of rifle rife upon the squad. The C.O.R. soldiers were completely caught off guard and their corpses fell lifeless to the ground as they were shot repeatedly.

As the last C.O.R. soldier fell to the ground, the Star Fox team ceased fire and quickly approached the elevator. "Poor sobs." Falco said. "Never even saw us coming."

"Get those bodies out and let's get going." Marcus quickly said. "If they're down there, then Subject Zero doesn't have much time." In response to his orders, Joey, Isaac, Fox, and Slippy quickly pulled the corpses out of the elevator and Star Fox then boarded it. As the doors closed, Marcus pressed a button on the console to take them to the bottom floor. The group reloaded their weapons and the prepared themselves for the worst.

"What if Subject Zero is dead?" Katt asked.

"Let's hope he's not." Krystal responded. "Otherwise this mission was a complete waste."

"If this guy was really that important, then I doubt TriGenics security would just let the C.O.R. at him easily." Fox commented. "I don't think Subject Zero has much time left, but I doubt the C.O.R. have gotten to him already."

"I hope you're right." Amanda said. Shortly after, the elevator reached the bottom floor and the doors opened. The team looked upon a large loading area next to a tram station. They looked around and noticed that there was a large tram car docked in the station as well. There was also an abundance of opened weapons crates, but the sight that shook the team the most was the many corpses of TriGenics security personnel lying about the ground.

"Oh my god…" Abigail said as she covered her mouth.

"Do the C.O.R. know no mercy?" Krystal asked as she looked upon the dead.

Marcus grew angry at the sight. He didn't like seeing more of the dead as it reminded him of the transport in MacBeth. "There's nothing we can do now." Marcus said as he left the elevator. "Subject Zero must be on the other side of this tram rail. Let's board the car and head to the other side."

Following his words, the team left the elevator and made their way through the corpses towards the tram car. As they all boarded, Marcus took one last look at the dead. "I'm sorry." Marcus softly said. "We'll make sure they pay for this." As Marcus saw the last member board the tram, he walked over to a control console and activated the tram car. The team felt the tram disengage from the dock and they started to move through the rail.

The rail was connected to the roof of a large rounded tunnel. The tunnel ran towards the center of the asteroid and was large enough to have additional tram rails built into the ceiling. The tunnel itself was lit with two long streams of lights that were embedded into the sides of the tunnel. As the tram slowly made its way through the tunnel, the Star Fox team grew impatient. "I'm tired of this waiting!" Falco exclaimed. "We got C.O.R. whack jobs at the other end trying to kill our objective."

"One way or another, we're not leaving here without a body." Fox interjected. "Whether or not Subject Zero is alive or dead, he is coming with us. We didn't make this trip for nothing."

"How much longer until we reach the other end?" Katt asked.

"A few minutes." Krystal responded as she looked at a monitor. "It shouldn't be too-" Krystal was interrupted as the tram came to an abrupt stop. A few members of the Star Fox team fell over on their sides and the remaining members managed to catch a rail. The tram stopped in the middle of an opening within the tunnel. The team noticed two more tram rails on either side of their tram and concluded that the tunnel was large enough for five tram rails.

"Why did we stop?" Isaac asked.

Fred walked over to the console and realized that the tram had stopped because it was shut down from the other tram station. "We're stuck here because someone at the other station shut us down."

Sensing a few dozen minds approaching their tram, Marcus quickly readied his weapon and became alert. "Fred, get this tram moving again." Marcus hastily said. "The rest of you, we got trouble coming our way. Get ready for a fight." The Star Fox team scattered themselves around the tram car and they all took cover behind the sides.

After a brief minute of waiting, the team noticed four other tram cars appear on the neighboring rails and they were loaded with C.O.R. soldiers. "There they are!" a C.O.R. soldier called out. "Kill them!" The C.O.R. soldiers within the other tram cars opened fire upon the Star Fox team. Their fire was returned however with laser fire from the Star Fox team. Soon, half the team was shooting in one direction of their tram car while the other half was shooting in the other.

"Freddy!" Marcus exclaimed while reloading his rifle. "Get this tram moving! We'll cover you!" In response to his words, Fred crawled towards the tram's control console and started to work with the controls. He quickly realized that he was locked out of the controls, and he opened up a panel underneath the console to work with the wiring.

"This will only take a minute!" Fred confidently said as he started to rewire the console.

"Well hurry it up kid!" Falco responded as he fired upon the C.O.R.

The Star Fox team held their own within their tram car against the C.O.R. The car provided them with cover form all sides, but the C.O.R. soldiers outnumbered the Star Fox team. At the moment, Marcus looked over his shoulder and noticed a pair of gunmen shooting at him from the next tram car over. He looked down and noticed Sierra in cover below the side rail of the tram car. "Sierra, two at your eleven." Marcus said to her.

Sierra and Marcus quickly poked their rifles out of their cover and opened fire upon the C.O.R. soldiers. They were successful in killing their targets and they quickly retracted back behind cover. "Done deal." Sierra said as she was reloading.

The Star Fox team quickly killed the majority of the C.O.R. soldiers during the fire fight. As he managed to catch a break in enemy fire, Marcus looked back at Fred and noticed Fred working with the console once more. "Freddy?!" Marcus hastily asked.

"I got it!" Freddy exclaimed. Following his words, the tram car quickly started moving once more and moved at three times the velocity from before. The entire Star Fox team fell over on their sides as the sudden acceleration caught them off guard. Thanks to Fred's efforts however, the Star Fox team eluded the C.O.R. soldiers. "Well, I didn't expect that." Fred said as he rose back to his feet.

"Hey, at least we're moving more quickly now." Falco interjected.

"We won't be away from the C.O.R. for long." Marcus said as he rose to his feet. "We're almost at the Isolation Cube. We'll grab Subject Zero and then take this tram back to the surface."

"Sounds like a plan." Fox responded. After a brief minute, the team arrived at the end of the tram rail and at the secondary docking station. As the tram docked at the station, Marcus quickly noticed two C.O.R. soldiers guarding a large set of double doors. He pointed them out and he and Fox both quickly opened fire upon them. "We're clear." Fox said as he and Marcus killed their targets.

The team dismounted the elevator and quickly approached the double doors. As the doors opened, they looked upon a bridge that lead towards another set of large double doors. However, to the team's surprise, the bridge was littered with corpses of C.O.R. soldiers and TriGenics security personnel. "Looks like we're late to the party." Falco commented as he saw the dead.

"There's quite a few dead C.O.R. here." Marcus observed. "We might be lucky. Let's get moving." The team quickly moved across the bridge and towards the other end. At the other end of the bridge however, the team noticed that the double doors were severely damaged and one of them was broken from the frame. The team went through the doors and the found themselves within a darkly lit room.

"Lights." Fox said. In response to his words, the team activated their rifle mounted flash lights and they started to survey the room. They learned that they were inside a large security checkpoint entry hall to the Isolation Cube. They also noticed a multitude of C.O.R. corpses lying the ground around them, and realized that there was another fight.

"Oh god." Abigail said as she covered her mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"I don't see any TriGenics security here." Fox said as he looked about the dead. "These guys were killed by something else."

"Who could have done thi-" Marcus was interrupted as he and the team heard a shotgun round go off in the following room. "What the hell?"

The Star Fox team cautiously approached a large set of double doors at the other end of the entry room. As they neared the doors, the lights within the room flickered on and the team opened the double doors. They looked inside and they saw single light illuminating a destroyed liquid stasis tank. The tank was shattered across the middle and fluids were spread throughout the floor.

The Star Fox team carefully entered the Isolation Cube and they were continuing to point their flashlights about searching for the source of the gun shot "You guys heard that right?" Marcus asked. "The shotgun shell?"

"I heard it." Falco replied.

"Me too." Fox replied. "But I don't see any-" Fox was interrupted as he and the team heard the sound of a shot gun shell being loaded into a rifle. They all quickly walked around the containment tank and they walked towards the end of the Isolation Cube. Within the corner of the darkly lit cube, the team shined their lights forward and they noticed two more C.O.R. soldiers lying dead on the ground.

However, the team continued to shine their lights forward and suddenly became petrified. All rifle lights were shining upon a silver vulpine with a prosthetic leg. He was dressed in black combat leggings and wore a black wife beater shirt on the top. The silver vulpine had two scars running down his neck, and two more running down his eye. His entire apparatus was soaked in fluids, and his breathing was heavy. He sat on top of a crate and loaded a shotgun shell into a shotgun he stole from a dead C.O.R. agent.

The sight of the vulpine froze the entire Star Fox team, and they were all shocked to see him. Seeing that the entire team was stunned, the vulpine spoke. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost." Axios said.


	4. Meteo: Day 5-Second Event

_He's back, but something isn't the same. Leave a review if you'd like, and as always; enjoy the chapter._

Meteo: Day 5.3

~As if a ghost had returned from the dead, Axios's appearance petrified the Star Fox team. They hadn't anticipated that Axios was Subject Zero. Axios continued to look at the team and he gave them all a serious stare with a straight face. To break some of the tension however, Axios clapped his hands together twice and the lights within the Isolation Cube were lit.

Axios leaned back on his crate and his back rested up against the corner of the Isolation Cube. He continued to look at Star Fox with the same dull look while the Star Fox team was still frozen. "This isn't a dream you know." Axios said. "I'm the real deal."

Unable to bear the shock, Slippy slowly looked up at the ceiling and fell backwards onto the ground. Fred and Amanda were shocked to notice Slippy faint the way he did, and they quickly rushed to his aid. Meanwhile, Marcus stepped forward to get a better look at Axios. "Axios…?" Marcus asked. "You're… alive?"

"We watched you die…" Falco softly said. "You… you were dead!"

"You're right." Axios responded with a low tone. "I was dead. Now I'm not." Axios stood from his crate and gently rested his shotgun over his shoulders. The team noticed that his clothes were soaked with fluids and Axios's composure was off. He appeared tired to the rest of the team and he also appeared to be in pain. "This is surely a rude awakening."

"How are you alive right now?!" Fox hastily asked.

Fox's appearance stunned Axios as he hadn't seen Fox since his death. He also noticed Krystal standing next to him and the sight of her also stunned Axios. In response to Fox's question, Axios lowered his head in silence. "I don't know." He responded. "Right now I have a storm of questions brewing inside my head. My memories are completely racing within my mind, and I'm so confused."

Axios took a deep breath and lifted his head once more. He lifted his shotgun off from his shoulders and held it at the ready in his arms. "All I know is that C.O.R. soldiers sprung me form that stasis tank and they tried to kill me." He continued. "So I did what comes naturally; I defended myself."

Immediately following Axios's words, the group felt the Isolation Cube violently shake. The resulting force managed to wake Slippy from his temporary state of unconsciousness and he quickly sprung to his feet. The group looked towards the entrance and they heard more C.O.R. soldiers coming. "We need to move." Marcus said as he loaded rifle. "We're not going to get anywhere by standing around. Let's get to the ships and talk to Peppy. He'll tell us more."

"Good." Axios angrily responded as he pumped the forearm grip of his shotgun. "Because I want some answers." Following his words, the thirteen members of Star Fox quickly left the Isolation Cube and proceeded to retrace their steps back towards the tram station. As they arrived at the station, a group of C.O.R. soldiers greeted them with rifle fire. "Take cover!" Marcus called out as he saw the soldiers. The Star Fox team quickly scattered themselves and took cover behind several crates and rails.

The two groups quickly engaged each other within a large firefight, but the Star Fox team outnumbered the C.O.R. soldiers. Knowing this, Marcus reached behind his belt and he grabbed a grenade. He poked his head from behind his cover and noticed a trio of C.O.R. soldiers that were grouped together. "Grenade out!" Marcus called out as he tossed it.

After a few seconds, the team felt the explosion shake the ground and they watched as the C.O.R. soldiers fly out from behind their cover. Their corpses quickly hit the ground and their numbers continued to decrease.

While Marcus claimed his three targets, Axios poked his head out of his cover and noticed a pair of C.O.R. soldiers harassing the team from the side. Axios poked his head out and fired his shotgun at them, but he only forced his targets behind their cover. "Let's try something else then." Axios thought. Axios took a deep breath and quickly sprung from his cover. He sprinted at the pair of C.O.R. soldiers and noticed they both poked their heads out form their cover.

Axios took that moment to slide on the ground feet first and he fired his shotgun at the soldiers again. This time he managed to land a headshot upon one soldier and staggered the other. As he rose to his feet, he used his momentum to leap over the crates that the soldiers were using for cover. The C.O.R. soldier was completely caught off guard and Axios seized that moment to fire another shotgun shell at point blank range.

With his two targets eliminated, Axios took cover behind the crate and harassed the remaining C.O.R. soldiers with more shotgun fire. After a few minutes of exchanging laser fire, the Star Fox team dispatched the remaining C.O.R. soldiers. Hearing no more fire, Fox poked his head out of his cover and aimed his rifle about the station. "Clear!" Fox called out as he scanned the tram station.

"Clear!" Falco responded.

"All clear!" Marcus added as he left his cover. "Let's move, we don't have much time."

Following his words, the group boarded the tram car and Fred quickly activated it. As the tram took off on the rail, the group had some more down time to converse among themselves. However, they could only think about Axios. "I still don't believe this." Marcus said as he looked at Axios. "I'm still struggling to grasp the fact that you're here right now."

Realizing that Marcus was referring to him, Axios sat down within the tram car and rested his back up against a rail. He felt a headache over take his senses, and his vision blurred for a moment. "I'm struggling with it too kid." Axios said as he placed his hand on his head. "But clearly someone brought me back. I wish I knew why though."

"Axios, I need to ask you something." Fox said as he approached Axios. "Peppy told us that there were two key people we needed to win this war. I assume he was referring to you as the first person. Do you know-"

"To answer your question, I don't know who the second would be. I've been dead for how long?"

"One month." Krystal responded from the rear of the group. "You've been dead for one month; or at least that's how long we think you've been dead."

"One month? This war has been going on for one month? Who's winning?"

"Axios, this war has only been going on for five days; almost six now." Marcus interjected. "We had to preserve your father's heart beat to give us time to prepare for the invasion."

"So, he wasn't dead after all; and I've been sleeping while people around me have been dying." Axios quickly felt a rush of anger overtake him and he took a deep breath. He quickly brushed off the emotions however as he rose to his feet. "Well in that case I've got some work to do."

"Hey Axios, really quick." Falco interjected. "If Peppy said that you're a key to winning this war, is there something that you know that we don't?"

Falco's question caused a stir within Axios's thoughts and he tried to think about what Falco was referring to. "I don't know." Axios quietly responded as he turned his back to the team. "I don't know much about what's going on right now anyways."

His response triggered something within Krystal and Marcus's telepathic senses and they both realized that Axios was lying. The mother and son pair gave each other looks of concern as their nervousness started to take hold over them. "Mom…" Marcus telepathically said. "You know, don't you?"

"I know." Krystal telepathically responded. "He's lying, but let's not confront him here. He's still in shock about everything. We'll wait until we get off the station."

Marcus walked up to Axios and placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "We'll figure this out." Marcus assertively said. "You just try to take it easy and let us do the work."

Feeling Marcus's grip on his shoulders ensued a calming sensation upon Axios's thoughts. Knowing that the Star Fox team was still beside him gave him relief, and he took a deep breath to relax his nerves. "While I haven't said it yet." Axios said as he turned to face the team. "It is good to see you all again."

Axios's words were returned with smiles from the faces of the Star Fox team. Though Marcus and Krystal both knew of Axios's deception, they were still joyful see Axios with them once more. Shortly after Axios's words, the tram reached the end of the rail, and the team quickly dismounted the car. They proceeded back through the station doors into the main facility. As they retraced their steps, they returned to the junction where the three separate building wings joined.

"No point in splitting up now." Marcus said to the team. "Let's take the north wing back." The team followed Marcus in agreement as they entered through a large set a double doors into the north wing of the facility. They continued to retrace their steps back towards the hanger until Marcus and Krystal felt a disturbance. "Something is wrong…" Marcus softly said as he stopped in his tracks.

The rest of the Star Fox team quickly stopped as they saw Marcus come to a stop. At the moment, the team stood within a two level laboratory with multiple stasis tanks outlining the walls. Robotic limbs were hanging from the ceiling, and there were multiple terminals on the lower level of the lab. "Marcus?" Fox asked. "What's wrong?"

To answer his question, the lights within the laboratory went dark, and the power within the room was shut down. "Flashlights!" Marcus called out. Following his words, the team activated their rifle mounted flashlights and quickly scanned the laboratory. They noticed no other signs of life within the room, but they were still alert.

"Keep a sharp eye." Fox said as he scanned the room. "They must have cut the power."

"No…" Axios interjected as he tightened his grip around his shotgun. "This is something else…"

"You are correct…" a voice said to them. "This is something else…" The Star Fox team quickly aimed their weapons towards the source of the voice and they noticed that it was coming through a speaker mounted within the wall. "I've been waiting for you…" the voice continued. "And it seems you have awoken Axios. This is good, I like this."

The team became confused at what was happening and their attention focused unto Axios. "Axios?" Marcus asked. "What's going on?"

Axios's stood silently where he was as his anger started to climb. He had recognized the voice coming from the speaker and lowered his head. "Guys…" Axios said to the team. "We need to move. Now."

"It's not kind of you to simply run away Axios." The voice continued. "We've been searching for you for a long time, and you're not even going to hear us out? You weren't this rude during our last encounter."

Axios had enough. He aimed his shotgun towards the speaker and fired off a round to destroy it. Upon doing so, Axios scanned the laboratory with his flash light and noticed a door on the far side. "The exit is over there." Axios observed. "Let's keep moving."

"Hold on." Marcus interjected. "What just happened? Who was that? How come they know you?"

Axios stopped in his tracks and was stunned by Marcus's question. He turned and faced the Star Fox team and noticed that they were all giving him a questionable look. "Axios." Krystal said. "I know you lied to us earlier. There's something else going on here, and it would help us all if we knew what it was."

Axios let his shoulders sag and he lowered his head. "I can't…" Axios softly said. "This isn't something that was supposed to happen."

"What do you mean?" Fox asked. "What wasn't supposed to happen?"

Axios lifted his head and took a deep breath. "Here's what you need to know." He aggressively said. "I've had people at my throat for as long as I can remember. I don't know who that was, or what he wants with me. All I know is that I'm supposed to be dead, and none of this was supposed to be my problem!"

"Axios, I can tell you're lying because I can read your mind." Marcus aggressively responded. "We just want to know the truth. The last time you kept a secret from us, you lead us through a hell of a goose chase that ended up with you dying in our arms. I don't want to repeat those events so cut us some slack here. What's really going on?"

Realizing that he would not be able to talk his way out of his current situation, Axios took one more deep breath to calm his nerves. He did not want to argue with the Star Fox team, and he did not want to become angry with the McClouds especially. "Look…" Axios softly said. "I need some time. I'm still struggling with the fact that I'm even standing right now. Once we're out of here, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Marcus responded. "Let's keep moving."

Following his words, the Star Fox team moved through the laboratory and towards the exit on the far side. As they approached the doors, the group realized that the power outage rendered the doors useless. Fred walked up through the team and inspected the door frame. "Looks like we'll have to blast our way through." He said as he rested his hand on the door. "I'll get a blast charge ready."

Fred reached behind him and grabbed multiple blast charges from his belt. As he started to place them upon the door, the rest of the team spread themselves out within the laboratory. They each kneeled and aimed their weapons at the door anticipating opposition on the other side. "Freddy!" Marcus called out as he took cover. "Ready?"

"Explosives are primed!" Fred responded as he pushed a button on the blast charge. "Detonation in five!" Fred quickly moved away from the door and took cover next to Slippy who was nearby. After waiting for five seconds, the blast charges on the door detonated. The resulting explosion blew the entire door from its frame and a small cloud of smoke was left in its place. When the smoke had settled, the team noticed there was no one waiting on the other side.

"It's clear." Fox observed. "Let's keep moving."

The Star Fox team left the safety of their cover and they proceeded through the door. As they continued to retrace their steps, they eventually came upon the facility docking platforms. However, they noticed a large group of people gathered around their fighters. Fox noticed that the people were dressed in lab coats and bore the TriGenics logo on their coats. "What's going on here?" he asked himself.

The team quickly approached the scientists and were greeted with joy. "You've made it back!" one scientist called out. "This is incredible! We're saved!"

"Thank god you managed to clear our those terrorists." Another scientist said. "We wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"It's no problem." Marcus said as he approached the scientists. "But right now we need to leave. We'll call in an extraction shuttle to get you guys out of here and-"

"You're not going anywhere!" a voice called out. The team quickly looked to the side and they noticed an anthropomorphic owl approach them. The owl wore a black business suit and a monocle over his right eye. His feathers were black with multiple white stripes running along them, and he stood as tall as Slippy. As he approached the team, he gave them a look of irritation. "You, all of you." The owl sneeringly said to the Star Fox team. "You've definitely caused quite a bit of a stir within my facility."

"And who are you exactly?" Marcus asked as he shouldered his rifle.

"My name is Preston White. I am the president and owner of the TriGenics corporation. This facility is owned by me, and right now I would like an explanation."

"Explanation for what exactly?" Falco asked. "We ain't exactly sure what you want to know."

Preston eventually joined the rest of the scientists and was within a close enough distance for a conversation. "I want to know why the Children of Red are after my most prized accomplishment?"

Not sure what Preston was referring to, the team did not know how to respond. However, Axios stepped in between them to face Preston himself. "Since when have I become your prized accomplishment'?" Axios asked.

"Since I made the decision to spend nearly a billion credits to bring you back from the dead."

His words quickly cleared up a storm within Axios's mind. He finally learned how he was brought back, but he wasn't aware for the reasons. "So, it was you then." Axios softly said to Preston. "You're the one who-"

"Axios, I hate to interrupt." Marcus said as he drew his rifle. "But we got trouble on the way, we'll finish this conversation at home." Following his example, the rest of the Star Fox team quickly readied themselves as they turned to notice the sound of C.O.R. soldiers approaching the docking platforms. "Gold team, get in your fighters and bring the rain." Marcus said. "Everyone else, take cover!"

Falco, Katt, Joey, and Isaac quickly mounted their fighters and fired up the engines. The rest of the Star Fox team and the scientists took cover behind several nearby crates that were on the docking platform. After a moment of wait, the team noticed two large set of double doors explode open and saw C.O.R. soldiers coming in through them. "Let them have it!" Marcus called out.

Following his command, the Star Fox team opened fire upon the C.O.R. The soldiers quickly dove behind cover of their own as they tried to protect themselves from the fire of Gold team's fighters. Not too long within the engagement however, Falco noticed several new signatures appear on his radar. "Marcus!" Falco called out in his communicator. "I'm picking up more C.O.R. fighters coming into Meteo! Their cruiser has come back looking for a fight!"

Marcus kneeled down behind his cover and placed a finger on his ear communicator. "I copy!" Marcus responded. "Break off and clear the space zone for us! We'll call in for extraction!" Marcus poked his head out of his cover and aimed his rifle at the C.O.R. As he fired, he noticed the _Skyclaw, Cat's Paw II, Havok,_ and _Nightshade_ fly directly upwards through the gravity field and into space. "Give them hell guys." Marcus thought to himself.

As he kneeled behind his cover once more, Marcus noticed Fred and Sierra behind cover together. "Freddy!" Marcus called out. "Call it in!"

"I got it!" Fed responded as he crouched behind his cover. "Sierra, I need a few!"

"Make it quick!" Sierra responded as she fired her rifle.

Fred kneeled down and reached behind his belt to grab a long range transmitter. He connected his ear piece to the transmitter and spoke into the communicator. "This is Fred Toad of Star Fox Red team to any in all Cornerian personnel within the Meteo Asteroid Cluster! We have recovered a critical objective and require immediate assistance and extraction! Is there anyone out there?!"

Within a few moments of his transmission, Fred received a reply. "Fred Toad." Toran responded. "This is Commander Alexander Toran. My fleet is within the vicinity and will be arriving at the edge of Meteo momentarily. Stand by."

"Make it fast Commander!" Fred placed his radio back behind his belt and poked his head out of his cover to fire his rifle. After firing for a brief moment, Fred retreated back behind his cover as he was being fired upon. "Marcus!" he called out as he took cover. "Toran and his fleet are on the way!"

Marcus took cover from the C.O.R. fire to reload his rifle. "Perfect!" Marcus responded as he readied himself. "We're thinning them out! Keep up the pressure!"

Red and Blue team continued to hold their ground against the C.O.R. soldiers. At the same time, Gold team continued to shoot down the C.O.R. fighters within the asteroid belt. Falco was struggling as he trailed a trio of C.O.R. fighters within the asteroid belt. "Hold still and let me shoot you!" Falco angrily called out.

The C.O.R. fighters maneuvered through the asteroids providing Falco with a difficult challenge of shooting them down. However, after a brief minute of chasing his targets, Falco managed to lock onto the lead fighter. "Mine!" he called out as he charged his laser round. Upon releasing his triggers, a charged laser round shot out from the _Skyclaw_ and destroyed the three fighters mid flight.

"Katt, I took down some fighters." Falco said as he turned back towards the facility. "Where are you?"

Kat and Isaac pursued a group of C.O.R. fighters as Falco contacted them. "Isaac and I are chasing down some more." Katt said while piloting her fighter. "These asteroids aren't giving us any wiggle room here!"

Katt looked to her side and noticed the _Nightshade_ open fire upon her targets. "They're not exactly making this easy Falco!" Isaac said in his frustration. "We're trying our best!"

"I got it!" Falco responded as he rejoined Katt and Isaac. "Where's Joey?"

In response to Falco's question, Katt, Isaac and him noticed their targets explode right before them from laser fire from their side. They looked and noticed the _Havok_ fly by and continued to engage more C.O.R. fighters within the area. "Miss me boss man?" Joey cheerfully asked Falco.

"Nice work." Falco responded. "Let's keep up the work!"

Falco, Isaac, and Katt all split up in different directions and continued to engage the C.O.R. fighters within the area. As they continued to protect the facility, Red and Blue team had started to turn the tide of the fire fight below. Seeing that the C.O.R. soldiers' numbers were dwindling, Axios readied himself behind his cover. He loaded his remaining four shotgun shells into his weapon, and he poked his head out of cover to take one last look at the enemy positions.

Axios grabbed the top of his cover and started to move out from it. However, he felt a hand grip his wrist and Axios was pulled back behind his cover. He looked behind him and noticed Preston held him in place. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Preston asked as he held Axios in place.

"Let go of me!" Axios demanded. "What I'm doing is saving your life! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm protecting my prize! I'm not about to let you go ahead and destroy yourself without letting the world know what I've accomplished! I'm going to-"

Axios immediately grew furious at Preston and delivered a strong punch directly into Preston's face. The resulting blow knocked Preston onto his back and even broke his monocle. "Annoying little pest." The irritated Axios said to himself. "I hope he gets shot."

Axios poked his head from his cover once more and briefly studied the positions of the C.O.R. soldiers. "Marcus!" Axios called out as he continued to look. "I need some covering fire!"

Marcus dropped behind his cover and reloaded his last clip into his rifle. "Don't you die on me Axios!" Marcus responded as he pulled the bolt handle on his rifle. "Covering fire!" Marcus and the rest of the Star Fox team opened fire upon the C.O.R. soldiers simultaneously and forced them behind their cover. Axios took this moment to spring from his cover and he rushed the enemy. "Axios you crazy fool!" Marcus thought as he saw Axios run towards the C.O.R.

Axios quickly reached the crates where the C.O.R. soldiers were hiding and he leaped over them. He noticed two soldiers quickly turn and aim their rifles at him. Axios quickly fired off his first shotgun shell and killed both of the soldiers. He turned his gaze towards the side and noticed three more soldiers kneeling behind their cover. Axios sprinted towards the C.O.R. and quickly fired off another shotgun shell killing the second soldier.

As he neared the final two, Axios fired off his last two shells and killed the next soldier. The last soldier aimed his rifle and started to fire upon Axios. Axios quickly slid on his back to avoid the laser fire and he quickly came upon the last soldier. He grabbed the barrel of the soldier's rifle and quickly forced it away from his body. Axios delivered a punch to the soldier's face and managed to force the rifle out of his hands. Axios took the butt end of the rifle and delivered one more strike to the soldier's face.

With the soldier knocked onto the ground, Axios stood above him and pointed the rifle at his head. The soldier looked up at Axios and also noticed the rest of the Star Fox team leave their cover. "How are you not dead?!" the soldier fearfully asked Axios.

"It's simple." Axios lowly responded. "You can't kill me, because I simply refuse to die."

"Well clearly you haven't lost your touch." Marcus said as he approached Axios.

"As bad ass as ever." Fred commented. "But what do we do about this last guy?"

"I know." Axios devilishly said. "I'll-"

"You can't escape your fate Axios!" the soldier loudly interrupted. "The All Father will have his-"

Axios fired off a laser round into the soldier's head and froze at the sight of his corpse. However, the rest of the team heard the soldier address Axios by name and were stunned. "Axios…" Sierra softly said. "He knew who you were. He addressed you by name."

Axios stood still and took a deep breath. He dropped the soldier's rifle on top of his corpse and he turned to face the team. "I-"

"I've had enough!" Fox angrily interrupted. "Axios, you're my brother for god's sake. But the secrets you keep will tear us apart. Why did that soldier know your name? What haven't you told us?"

Krystal came up behind Fox and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Fox, come on." She said as Fox's tensions grew. "We need to give him some time." Krystal's gaze then turned towards Axios and she gave him a serious look. "Axios, I'm asking you. When we get extracted from here, tell us everything. Please don't make me have to forcibly read your memories to learn the truth."

Her warning shook Axios to his core, and he lowered his head in a mix of shame and guilt. "I'll tell you everything." Axios softly said as he walked through the team. "But you won't like what you hear."

After a few minutes, Gold team noticed several friendly signatures appear on their radars. "Hey guys!" Falco said into his communicator. "I've got Toran's ships on radar, we're good to go!" Falco also noticed several transport shuttles approaching the facility to extract the remaining scientists and Preston. At the same time, he also noticed another group of Toran's ships opening fire and destroying the C.O.R. cruiser.

As the shuttles landed on top of the docking platforms, the Star Fox team mounted their fighters. "Axios…" Fox said as he mounted his _Arwing II_. "Ride with me will ya?"

"Sure." Axios responded. Axios mounted the _Arwing II_ and seated himself behind Fox in the secondary cockpit chair. Fox ignited the engines and lifted the _Arwing II_ into the air. As the fighter broke past the artificial gravity field, Axios noticed that Fox was piloting the fighter away from the rest of the group. "Fox? What are you doing?"

"We're going to have a talk." Fox said in a serious tone. "And we'll be done once I know everything."

Axios leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath as his tone of voice also went serious. "Then let's talk."

Fox started to leisurely pilot the _Arwing II_ through the asteroids with relative ease. "What did you do during the sixteen years of isolation that you haven't told me about?" He asked Axios. "You rebuilt the Black Sun fighters, and collected data on the Crimson Organization. But what did you do to stir the Children of Red?"

"It wasn't just a stir." Axios responded. "It was an assault."

"Assault?"

"It turns out the C.O.R. have been sneaking scout parties into Lylat for ages. They've been measuring the strength of the Cornerian military, and they have been preparing themselves for an invasion ever since."

"What else did you learn?"

"Something bad. I learned that Sierra's father, Tanner Spectra, and Master Capital were actually sleeper agents of the C.O.R. They were ordered to keep tabs on the Crimson Organization."

"Why didn't you tell us this when we went after the Crimson Organization?"

"I felt that it wasn't relevant at the time. We were focused on destroying the Crimson Organization, not worrying about C.O.R. sleeper agents."

Fox became irritated listening to Axios's story. However, he realized that Axios had a point in withholding the information when he did. "Ok." Fox said. "You're right, because at the time we were more focused on the Crimson Organization. Now, clearly something else happened that started all of this. What was it?"

"This is the part you won't like." Axios warned. "I learned that there was a C.O.R. frigate with Lylat conducting a patrol. Sigma and I tracked it and I managed to destroy it. When I got back to my safe house on MacBeth, I noticed that I had a call on the war room terminal. When I answered, I spoke with… him."

"The All Father? You spoke with the All Father?!"

"He knew me by name, he knew about my safe house, and he somehow obtained all of the information I had on the C.O.R. What's worse, he made me an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"Join the C.O.R., and I would be spared death from their invasion."

"And you said no."

"I wasn't about to betray what family I had left. Needless to say, the rest of the C.O.R. know who I am, and they are afraid of what I know as well."

"When we were sent for you, Peppy named you one of two critical people to help turn the tides of the war. What exactly makes you so important? What do you know that makes the C.O.R. afraid of you?"

"When I sent you the data on the _Purifier_ super weapon, there was something missing. It was the firing key to actually use the weapon. Before I went on my suicide run, Sigma dug through our data on the Crimson Organization and we learned where it was hidden. Afterwards, I wiped all of the data from my terminals at home and left them with my agent."

"A firing key?"

"A weapon of this magnitude needs to have a very special key to use. The location of the key is saved on my personal data pad, and my data pad is currently held by my agent."

"Your agent? Who is your agent?"

"Take a guess Fox, Sigma is my agent."

"And where is he now?"

"Sadly, I don't know. I told him to stay close to the systems near Corneria after my death, but I'm not sure where he is now. He could be anywhere in Lylat, and he can be even more difficult to find with the _Archangel_'s stealth drive."

"Then I think it's time to find him."


End file.
